Tips for Tire Dealers Preparing for Fall and Winter

It may be summer and it may be hot, but cooler temperatures are right around the corner. When the kids go back to school and the temperatures drop, drivers will be dealing with a change in road conditions. The time will be here before you know it, and you don’t want to delay your fall and winter marketing planning for tire sales.

These tips for tire dealers will help you get on track so you don’t miss out on one of your busiest times of the year.

Why Start Now?

Planning ahead is crucial to the success of a marketing campaign. While you may not want to start thinking about the cooler months ahead, you need to. Summer is a time when many families take road trips and put significant wear on their tires, which means they may not be safe to drive in winter conditions. Depending on your location within the country, winter storms can start developing as early as September and you do not want to be the last company to offer promotions for winter tires.

Begin researching in July and August to ensure you are ready to provide the best deals for your business in September. When October and November roll around you will be prepared to have your campaign running in full force. If you live somewhere that is prone to seeing signs of winter earlier in the year, adjust your timeline to maximize your sales.

Top 5 Best Practices

Before you begin investing time and money into a marketing campaign, make sure you have a strong understanding of your company’s brand and vision. This upfront preparation will allow you to determine what makes you stand out from the competition and capitalize by promoting them to customers.

1. Promote Your Assets

Are you using the newest technology while your competitors aren’t? You can use that information as a prominent part of your campaign.

2. Know the Competition

When it comes to marketing tires and your services, observing what your competitors are doing to attract customers is important. If they are doing something that is successful, look at how you may be able to apply a similar strategy to your business.

3. Partner with Local Businesses

One way to reach new customers, while cutting your marketing costs, is to team up with another local business. Is there a carwash or auto detailer nearby? Maybe there is a coffee shop or restaurant that customers can use while their car is being serviced. If you promote each other’s companies, and share the cost of the campaign, you have the potential to see an increase in sales without an increase in spend.

4. Use Incentives

You may decide that this is not the best strategy for your business, but you can still come up with a way to entice new customers. After their first service is complete, incentivize them to continue coming back. Do you have a loyalty program? Reward your customers for their recurring business.

5. Market to Households

During the planning and implementation of your marketing campaign, work toward reaching the entire household rather than one specific member of a family. There are often multiple cars in a household and you don’t know who will be making the decision about winter tires. You don’t want to miss out on sales because you assumed you knew who the household decision maker is.

Get Started Today

The first step is to evaluate where you are currently with your marketing plan. If you already have a plan outlined then continue to work toward having your campaign finalized for the winter months by September, or earlier if you anticipate marginal weather. If you have not started yet, it is time to begin doing research and preparing for the upcoming months.

Whatever you decide, remember that while it may be hard to think about winter in July, promoting tires in the winter requires planning. That planning should start now.